The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-10-05
TIE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
CAPTAIN TILLnIhN'S REVIEW oFTur
ARGUMENTS ON THE QUESTION.

He Invites II Full Discussion OF the Suffice,
and Predicts II Victory for the Friends o
the Proposed Institution.
TO the Editor of the News and Courier:
In my previous lotters | have ut one tilnc
or another answered or furcstalled every
argument which has ever been advanced
against the separate agricultural college,
and it is disagreeablc to have to go over
the samo ground again. But the oppo.
nents OF such school in South Carolina,
who realize and sec that tho idea is gain.
ing ground rapidly and surely, continue
to repeat the threadbarc and mtcnoi lie
arguments against it that have al various
times been advanced by "Carolinian, y
Capt. Paul Hammond and others. |
therefore feel constrained to again take
part in the controversy" or "discus.
sion, whichever it may be called.
1t is gratifying to note the fact that we
have driven our advcrsarics to abandon
their first mode Of atta,'., in which ridi
cnlo and personal abuse were mainly
relied upon. 'D.," the latest knioht
who cOuchcs lance in behalf of the
waning cause OF tho "ogriCultural annex"
and whose articles have recently appeared
IN lhe News and Courier, says the Qucs-
ton OF the education of our youths
should be approached seriously, glavCly,
earnestly, rcvcrcntly." Most assircdly,
and l agree with him that, in dcuin2
with this question, ga blunder may be
worse than Il crime | contend tlat the
blunder and or me both have been al
ready committed, and that .alonc las
moved me to undertake and continue the
agitation known rs the Farmers move.
nAent. If l have at times ovcrsteppad
the bounds of that SERIOUS, candid, dis
passionate discussion" for which ~"
pleads, have had provocation enough,
as yoar readers well know, and lave
always acted on the defensive / clam
to have been actuatcd by an "carHcSt,
patriotic spirit, and with reason, facts
anu arguments to fully sustain my posl,
tiol. ! have only indulgcd in nlTcctiye
or sarcasm to repcl personal assault, or
when felt that the injustice practiccd
against farmers required merited robuNc.
l and all the friends Of real farmers
college and Of agricultural adyan cement
in South Carolina are ready and anxious
TO meet our antagonists III fair debate,
whe' ller IN the newspapers or before the
people, and We challenge them to n ''joint
discuss on" of tho issues presented We
have nothing to lose and cvCryt hing 10
gE.r by such discussion, and wAilc
thoir trained intcllccts ard oratorical
Oi]ity may and does give them the ad-
age, relying on common sense and
justice OF our cause, we co urt the
liest. Truth breads darkness rather
Ifrl,N l,,r. f.,,lt hot 10, L. a,
uth and justice On ouI side.
AS Chairman OF the Executive Com
miLteo of the Farmers Association, /
hereby extend on invitation and challcnge
to tt" Board OF Trustees of the Sollh
Carolina College and to the Board of
Agriculture to appoint speakcrsto repre-
sent them, and we will do Likewise; aud
we will further agree to get up mass
meetings of farmers to hear the cause
and decide who is right. 1t will come 10
this at last, and it had Just rs well come
TO it ut once; for, rs sd. says: "South
Carolina has alwaS been and probably
always will be an agricultural State, ard
it is a manifest necessity that this prob
lem bo solved with correctness al d solved
with dispatch"
The wise disposition of the Hatch ap-
preparation, which will dcvOlyc upon the
Legislature at the next session. renders
it all the moro necessary that no more
mistakes be made; and if the lawyers
and "tho once lordly planters" expect to
was te that money rs the land scrip fund
and privilege tax are now being wasted,
and rs the two experimental stations
promise TO waste 1t, 1t must be after an.
othor election has shown that tho major
ity of the farmers arc of thcir own way
of thinking. 1t will not do to rely upon
the esprit dc corps Of the lawyers IL the
Senate to decide the matter contrary to
the wishes of the common farmers.
Many of the "onco lordly planters" are
now common farmers conscious of tue
errors of their own training, and Bour
bonism will yet learn that neither class
partisanship nor political trickcry can
shake US off. Let I'D" and his friends
who are fighting 10 sustain the "annrX"
and agricultural bureau, meet US on the
stump and allow the whole case to be
presented. ii the farmers then decide
that the South Carolina College shall
stand as it is, VIC will submit, but not
till then.
In the meantime | will cndeavor To
answer tho arguments I'D. has presented
as going 10 show that the South Carolina
College is now carrying out the Federal
law in good faith, and fulfilling its re.
quirc' lHnts more fully than the Agricul-
%u'r' nl Mechanical College Of Nlissis
opp. In the first place, until this
agitation began there was really no agri.
cultural or mechanical feature attached
to the South Carolina College. President
McBryde's executive duties absorbed all
his time and energies, and nothing has
been done and no change made in the
curri .ulum since August, 1885, except to
employ an adjunct professor Of agricul-
ture and erect small machine shop III
which applied mechanics arc taught by
the naval officer who is detailed by tho
United States Government for that pur-
pose. Everything else is on the same
old basis, and the whole bias and effect
of the training has been towards the
professions and away from the farm; and
the fact cannot be denied that the nae
chanical department has developed rathe,